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On this day 50 years ago...


pf9

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Monday Night Football premiered on ABC.

When the AFL and NFL merged, CBS and NBC both wanted to continue televising pro football, but neither network was willing to air a weekly Monday night game, leading to the AFC-NFC setup to keep both networks aboard rather than a simple geographic alignment.

ABC, despite some reluctance, signed on, putting the NFL on all three major networks at the time.

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I can't believe I'm reading about Al, Dan and Frank. But I guess not many here are old enough to remember Howard, Don and Keith.

The first season Keith Jackson was play by play. Then ABC grabbed Frank Gifford away from CBS a year later.

BTW, the first game Jets at Cleveland is famous for the Don Meredith line about never meeting a Fair Hooker. That was the name of a Browns wide receiver. In recent years some young goofs on certain websites have written articles and tried to pretend it was all invention, that Meredith never said it. That is 100% garbage. Meredith absolutely said it. I remember it plain as day because it was a strange comment and at 10 years old I didn't know what it meant, but my dad burst out laughing. He was in a recliner. I was laying on the couch. I remember turning and looking at him as he roared. Then the following day at school kids were talking about it and I got the gist of the meaning. The comment was instantly famous.

If a tape surfaced without the comment then it's not the version that ran in real time. 

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2 hours ago, Awsi Dooger said:

I can't believe I'm reading about Al, Dan and Frank. But I guess not many here are old enough to remember Howard, Don and Keith.

The first season Keith Jackson was play by play. Then ABC grabbed Frank Gifford away from CBS a year later.

BTW, the first game Jets at Cleveland is famous for the Don Meredith line about never meeting a Fair Hooker. That was the name of a Browns wide receiver. In recent years some young goofs on certain websites have written articles and tried to pretend it was all invention, that Meredith never said it. That is 100% garbage. Meredith absolutely said it. I remember it plain as day because it was a strange comment and at 10 years old I didn't know what it meant, but my dad burst out laughing. He was in a recliner. I was laying on the couch. I remember turning and looking at him as he roared. Then the following day at school kids were talking about it and I got the gist of the meaning. The comment was instantly famous.

If a tape surfaced without the comment then it's not the version that ran in real time. 

I've watched quite a few games with Howard, Don, and Frank. Not with Keith. Howard's presence seemed trivial, and I didn't think he really added anything to the broadcast. Don I thought would be annoying, but actually came off as the just the cool guy hanging out. That's hard to pull off, because now he would not be able to get away with that kind of role like Dennis Miller couldn't in the late 90's. I guess since Don actually played there was more merit to him being there. Frank did the heavy lifting and seemed to hold everything together for me, sometimes dragging a telecast because Don and Howard didn't necessarily add anything insightful. 

To be fair though, this is coming from someone who didn't watch those games live as they occurred. So my perspective will be different. 

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4 hours ago, Awsi Dooger said:

I can't believe I'm reading about Al, Dan and Frank. But I guess not many here are old enough to remember Howard, Don and Keith.

The first season Keith Jackson was play by play. Then ABC grabbed Frank Gifford away from CBS a year later.

BTW, the first game Jets at Cleveland is famous for the Don Meredith line about never meeting a Fair Hooker. That was the name of a Browns wide receiver. In recent years some young goofs on certain websites have written articles and tried to pretend it was all invention, that Meredith never said it. That is 100% garbage. Meredith absolutely said it. I remember it plain as day because it was a strange comment and at 10 years old I didn't know what it meant, but my dad burst out laughing. He was in a recliner. I was laying on the couch. I remember turning and looking at him as he roared. Then the following day at school kids were talking about it and I got the gist of the meaning. The comment was instantly famous.

If a tape surfaced without the comment then it's not the version that ran in real time. 

I am...I could only handle Howard Cosell in dribs and drabs....I liked Don Meredith and Keith Jackson..."Turn Out The Lights, the Party's Over" (D.M.)...

Edited by 40Year Pack Fan
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NFL history could have looked a lot different if either NBC or CBS signed up for MNF in 1970 while the other network telecast Sunday afternoon games.

The NFL certainly would have been able to adopt a purely geographical alignment, which would have looked like this:

East
Atlantic: New England, NY Giants, NY Jets, Philadelphia
Central: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh
Southeast: Atlanta, Baltimore, Miami, Washington

West
Midwest: Chicago, Green Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota, St. Louis
Pacific: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco
Southwest: Dallas, Denver, Houston, New Orleans

Many different rivalries would have developed over the ensuing decades than most of the ones we have now.

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Chances are if ABC lands a portion of the TNF package in 2023 (which I want), they'd use the MNF crew on these games.

My proposal for ABC to be the sole network airing the London games (which would all be played at 9:30 AM ET) would call for a separate crew working these games, since it would be too difficult to call a game in London Sunday and then fly back to the US to call the MNF game the next night. Nevertheless, Hank Williams Jr. would sing the opening theme of the London games too (if he is still alive and working with ESPN by then).

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Under a purely geographic alignment, if the same expansions and relocations occurred over the years here is what would have happened:

1976: Tampa Bay established in Southeast Division, Seattle in Pacific Division
1982: Oakland moves to LA, no realignment
1984: Baltimore moves to Indianapolis and is realigned into Central Division, Buffalo realigned into Atlantic DIvision
1988: St. Louis moves to Phoenix (rebranded Arizona in 1994) and is realigned into Southwest Division
1995: Carolina and Jacksonville established in Southeast Division, Raiders move back to Oakland, Rams move to St. Louis, Washington realigned into Atlantic Division, Buffalo realigned into Central Division, Indianapolis and St. Louis realigned into Midwest Division, Kansas City realigned into Southwest Division, Arizona realigned into Pacific Division
1996: Cleveland suspends operations for three years, new Baltimore team established but takes Cleveland's place in Central Division for three years
1997: Houston moves to Nashville (initially playing home games in Memphis)
1999: Cleveland reactivated in Central Division, Baltimore realigned into Atlantic Division
2002: New Houston team established, new alignment created:

East
Atlantic: Baltimore, Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington
Central: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh
Northeast: Buffalo, New England, NY Giants, NY Jets
Southeast: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay

West
Midwest: Chicago, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Minnesota
Mountain: Arizona, Dallas, Denver, Houston
Pacific: Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle
Southwest: Kansas City, New Orleans, St. Louis, Tennessee

2016: St. Louis returns to Los Angeles, following realignment occurs:

Mountain: Arizona, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle
Pacific: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco
Southwest: Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee

2017: San Diego also returns to Los Angeles, no realignment

2020: Oakland moves to Las Vegas, swaps divisions with Seattle.

Edited by pf9
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